title: Effects on vocal range and voice quality of singing voice training: the classically trained female voice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A longitudinal study was performed on the acoustical effects of singing voice training under a given study program, using the voice range profile (VRP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pretraining and posttraining recordings were made of students who participated in a 3-year bachelor singing study program. A questionnaire that included questions on optimal range, register use, classification, vocal health and hygiene, mixing technique, and training goals was used to rate and categorize self-assessed voice changes. Based on the responses, a subgroup of 10 classically trained female voices was selected, which was homogeneous enough for effects of training to be identified.
  
  
  METHODS
  The VRP perimeter contour was analyzed for effects of voice training. Also, a mapping within the VRP of voice quality, as expressed by the crest factor, was used to indicate the register boundaries and to monitor the acoustical consequences of the newly learned vocal technique of "mixed voice." VRPs were averaged across subjects. Findings were compared with the self-assessed vocal changes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pre/post comparison of the average VRPs showed, in the midrange, (1) a decrease in the VRP area that was associated with the loud chest voice, (2) a reduction of the crest factor values, and (3) a reduction of maximum sound pressure level values. The students' self-evaluations of the voice changes appeared in some cases to contradict the VRP findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VRPs of individual voices were seen to change over the course of a singing education. These changes were manifest also in the average group. High-resolution computerized recording, complemented with an acoustic register marker, allows a meaningful assessment of some effects of training, on an individual basis and for groups that comprise singers of a specific genre. It is argued that this kind of investigation is possible only within a focused training program, given by a faculty who has agreed on the goals.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sonology, Royal Conservatory, The Hague and Voice Quality Systems, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: pabon@koncon.nl.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pabon
authors.affiliation: Royal Conservatory, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stallinga
authors.affiliation: Division of Logopedics, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Södersten
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Music and Hearing, School of Computer Science and Communication, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ternström
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009146:Music; D010699:Phonation; D011312:Pressure; D012737:Sex Factors; D063346:Singing; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mixed voice; Phonetogram; Voice range profile; Voice training